Fix Firefox Update Interval

Yes, it's possible to approach that ideal, but it is too expensive for anything like a browser. And too slow by decades.

Yes, but it's quite the process.

.

It only cost ~100 times as much as full DoD mission code.

Joe Gwinn

[...]

What version are you running?

91.0.2 64 bit. It says I'm up to date, so why the popups?

Did you modify the about:config update parameters?

That's hilarious, coming from a guy who still pines for Windows 95 and wonders why he can never get his software to work.

Joe gave you the correct answer.

What this glosses over is that it inherently limits the rate of evolution. If you can't reify changes in a timely manner, then you'll not encounter many real changes!

We'd still be using *gopher* clients!

Likewise, it limits the complexity of any potential solution to only those things that can be completely codified and tested in some timeframe.

Why can't we design power supplies that never fail? Surely, that's a more mature technology, right? (Oh, you can? It just costs a lot more than you are willing to spend and ends up physically larger than the device it seeks to power??)

And, what about things like *cars*? Surely the volume is high enough to justify "getting it right" and then repeating the process over and over...

Why would you modify those individually? Twenty-two of them?

Edit > Settings (linux) , the General group, has a Firefox Updates section.

This page

"Firefox Updates This is where you can check your update history or change update settings for Firefox."

There's nothing there that I can change, but that's probably because my FF and its updates are coming thru Ubuntu repos, not from Mozilla.

Unfortunately, I cannot duplicate your results as I am running 32-bit

88.0.1.

However, if 91.0.2 is similar, you should have a box in the upper right corner marked "Show only modified preferences". Click on it and any parameters that have changed will appear.

Most parameters have a little counterclockwise arrow in the far right. If you click on it, the parameter will go back to the original value. This should restore the system to the original configuration and eliminate the problem.

If you are really brave, you can downgrade Firefox to a previous version and see if that eliminates the problem. Just copy your firefox folder to a backup folder in case something goes wrong. You can find previous versions at

Firefox Setup 88.0.1.exe is at

You may have to reinstall your profile after downgrading, so save your home url and any extensions you have installed.

I still have not had any upgrade requests since the first one after modifying the about:config parameters shown here:

app.update.BITS.enabled true app.update.auto.migrated true app.update.backgroundMaxErrors 10 app.update.badgeWaitTime 345600 app.update.channel release app.update.checkInstallTime true app.update.checkInstallTime.days 100000 app.update.download.attempts 0 app.update.download.promptMaxAttempts 0 app.update.elevate.attempts 0 app.update.elevation.promptMaxAttempts 0 app.update.interval 10000000 app.update.langpack.enabled true app.update.log false app.update.log.file false app.update.notifyDuringDownload false app.update.promptWaitTime 691200 app.update.service.enabled false app.update.staging.enabled false app.update.timerFirstInterval 10000000 app.update.timerMinimumDelay 1000000 browser.region.update.enabled false browser.search.update.interval 1000000 browser.search.update.log false

It should be possible to tame Firefox with the right parameter. Since there is no documentation from mozilla, we have to find it ourself. But when we do find it, the update problem should be fixed forever.

My installation seems to be stable. No funny bugs, and no update requests.

Software adheres very much to "There is never time to do it right, but always time to do it over."

It's the same mindset that seems to think it's normal to reboot a machine when you install new software. People have been conditioned to accept the unacceptable.

Jeroen Belleman